Surprises and Concerns
by Inkblooded Witch
Summary: Castiel's ultrasound doesn't exactly result in news they were expecting, or had even considered. Meanwhile Sam finds himself dealing with an unusually unstable Gabriel. Sorry for the sucky description. Destiel and Sabriel, all fluff. Sequel to 'Divided and United'. Part 8 of my 'Family and Mates' story line. Rated for language.


**Happy Thanksgiving to my state-side readers! Here's a fluffy installment of 'Family and Mates'.**

 **PSA: Plan to write Christmas special! :)**

 **Enjoy!**

* * *

Sam wanted to ignore the tugging on his shirt. He wanted to, but he also knew it would only get more insistent the longer he avoided looking down. Reluctantly, the Alpha turned his attention from his conversation with Bobby to look down. John had the hem of his t-shirt in one hand, brow furrowed as he stared up at him.

"Why is Papa putting ketchup on the potato salad?" he asked, sounded genuinely concerned.

Sam grimaced, glancing across the backyard as Bobby chuckled. Thankfully Gabriel had only passed out the one time, though his bizarre cravings had returned full force. At least Castiel just wanted semi normal things, like pickles in peanut butter and anchovies on everything. Sure enough, he saw his mate at one of the outdoor tables, feet propped in a second chair, chatting with Ellen and Jo about something or other. It was late April, hence the spring family barbeque, but that meant his mate was six months along. It was just one this time, thankfully, and the morning sickness had been minimal. Mostly Sam just tried not to think about what Gabriel ate, a task made harder when one took into account their inquisitive son.

"Uh, because he wants too."

"But yesterday he said ketchup was gross," protested John.

The Alpha spared a glance at his adoptive father, who was clearly smothering a grin as he took a drink of his beer, then went down on one knee so he could look John in the eye. "You know how we said we're going to have another baby soon?"

John nodded emphatically. "Yeah. But he wasn't like this last time. He didn't faint either. How come you won't tell us if it's going to be a boy or girl?"

Sam smiled tightly. "Sometimes when you're growing a baby it makes you want to eat weird things. After the baby comes he'll be back to normal. He wasn't like this with the twins but he was with you. They aren't always the same way twice. And we're not telling you because Papa wanted this one to be a surprise."

"How come?"

"I don't know. But it's what he wants, so I'm respecting his decision. You should too."

While John didn't seem enthusiastic about this, it did seem to satisfy him. He ran off again, rejoining Mary on the playset. Sam straightened, picking up his beer and turning back to Bobby.

"Why'd he want to keep this one under wraps?" the Beta asked, understandably confused.

Sam shrugged. "Dunno. He's been different with this one. I think me and John were too involved before."

Bobby gave him a funny look. "There's such a thing as too involved?"

The Alpha glanced over at his mate, who's face had crinkled into a wide grin at something Jo had said. A big, genuine grin that turned his eyes to slits and his face into one giant smile. His face softened at the sight. Gabriel didn't do much laughing when he was pregnant.

Guiltily, he turned back to Bobby. "Well, I mean think about it. Yeah he's glad we're into it, but...their names, Bobby. He spends hours with his nose in these baby name books we never used before. And he won't let me help him paint their room. We found out the gender, but he won't let me tell. He didn't care before."

They'd converted their attic space to make room for the extra addition, turning half of it into a proper nursery with a wall to separate it from the storage space. Unless it was heavy lifting or putting together one of the twin's old cribs, Sam was unofficially bared from it, so was John. Maybe Sam would have pressed his mate for a real answer, but every time he got the chance Gabriel was either exhausted or in one of his mood swings. The last time he'd tried he'd gotten a hard plastic toy thrown at his head for his troubles. As for their names? He hadn't thought much about it until recently. Gabriel had seemed more than happy to name their first after his deceased father, and he seemed to like how unique the twin's names were without being some outlandishly spelled normal name. John had also gotten Gabriel's fathers name, but Sam had no idea where the other two middle names had come from. Thus their birth certificates read Jonathan Charles Winchester, Artemis Jacqueline Winchester, and Orion Keshet Winchester. Jacqueline at least he'd hear of, but Keshet? Gabriel had been less wrathful when John had asked before Sam could. The Omega had informed him it was Hebrew, he liked it, and to shut up and eat his broccoli.

Bobby's brows were narrowing under his trucker cap. "You sayn' he didn't get to name the last three?"

"He picked the middle names," Sam offered. At Bobby's expression he protested, "We didn't demand he go with anything. We just made suggestions and he agreed. I didn't think much about it, but that was one of his conditions if we had one more."

"What was the other one?"

"Tubal ligation."

Bobby's frown lightened a little at the shrieks that came from the twins as they fired water pistols at each other. "Well, I guess I can't blame him. Maybe he'll go back to normal after they're born, maybe he just wants to have more to do with 'em. We'll see."

The Beta turned back towards the grill, setting his beer down to pick up a pair of tongs. He lifted the lid, checking the meat as smoke cleared. "Have you heard from Dean? Dinner's about ready."

"They should be here by now." Sam turned back towards the house, frowning, but then relaxed. "They're here."

Bobby turned to look. "Dean look alright to you?"

Sam looked again. His brother was hovering as he usually did when Castiel was pregnant, but the more he looked the more he noticed he looked paler than usual. His mate seemed to be in a particularly foul mood. Once Castiel was seated across from Gabriel at the table, Dean marched right up to their cooler, pulled out a beer, and downed the whole thing in a single draft.

Bobby and Sam exchanged a look. Mary and Henry had been dropped off earlier that morning so their parents could go to an ultrasound appointment in peace. Sam had expected them to come back happy, as they always had before. Instead Castiel looked like he was fuming, arms folded, face set. Dean looked like he planned to get drunk, something Sam hadn't seen him actively do since Mary was born.

Uneasy, he approached his brother carefully. "Uh, did everything go okay?"

Dean had finally come up for air, and seemed to notice the bottle was empty. He pulled out another, twisting the cap off. "Fine. Great. Awesome. Got anything stronger?"

"No. What happened?" demanded Bobby, glancing worried over at the still silent Castiel.

The Omega lifted his chin, leveling a glower at his mate. "I blame you."

"Hey it was a team effort."

It sounded like they'd argued about this already, probably in the car.

"When I agreed to trying again this was hardly what I had in mind."

"It sure as hell wasn't my idea."

"You never answered the question," Ellen reminded them sharply. "What happened?"

"Is the baby okay?" Jo asked worriedly.

Castiel closed his eyes, tipping his head back against the chair. Dean gave a wry smile. "Oh, they're okay. They're awesome. Everything's developing fine, strong heartbeat, the whole nine." Right before he drained the rest of his second beer he added, "All three of them."

It took Sam a second to process that. Jo's mouth fell open. Ellen looked as surprised as he felt.

Oblivious to the shock his in-laws were processing, Castiel turned to his brother, who was grinning like a maniac. "If you don't mind could you lend us the extra crib? And whatever else you can spare?"

Gabriel openly cackled. "No problem, bro. Woo, and I thought twins were bad!"

Castiel frowned a little, leaning forward. "Are the burgers done yet? I'm starving."

Bobby quickly turned back to the grill before anything could burn. Sam wasn't entirely sure what to say. What was there _to_ say?

"Uh, congratulations," he tried, cracking a smile. He vividly remembered how the twins had run his mate ragged, remembered falling asleep at his desk at work more than once and almost nodding off in court. They'd kept him up too, and Gabriel could only do so much at once. It had been the most exhausting, unpleasant, crying and dirty diaper filled time of his life. That said, when he turned to watch the twins as they ran around the Singer's backyard, he knew he'd gladly do it all over again if given the choice.

Dean snorted. "I can do one at a time, Sammy. Two would be bad enough, I saw what they did to you. But three? Come on."

"It wasn't that bad." His lie didn't sound convincing even in his own ears.

"Yeah, right."

They might have kept going, but Ellen chose that moment to stand up and start calling the kids over for lunch. Most were wet and muddy to some degree, an inevitable thing considering they'd been playing with water guns. Dean snagged the towels and made to intercept as Castiel started to get out of his chair, only to have Jo push him back into it.

"Relax, bro, enjoy it while it lasts," Gabriel scolded.

Castiel reluctantly let himself be waited on, and Sam kept an eye on his brother as he helped Bobby take the meat off the grill. Dean handed out two towels to the older kids, then wrapped the remaining one around Henry. The twins were only a little wet, and neither seemed to care. The Alpha picked up their current youngest when he made the grabby-grabby motions, apparently ignoring the wet fingers gripping his shirt as he helped Jo pour five lemonades with his free hand.

It was one advantage Sam had always felt his brother had had over him, besides the inevitable array that came with being the younger of the two. Dean had always been good with kids, even when he was little more than one himself. Sam had wanted them, yes, but he'd never felt natural around them the way Dean seemed to. He still didn't actually, the only exception being his own. Well, and Dean's, but only because they spent so much time around each other.

Sam started putting hamburger patties in buns, handing some of the plates to Ellen to take over to the two pregnant Omegas. He left one out though, remembering to leave one patty without the bun before he started passing them to the kids. The plane patty went to Orion, who immediately set about covering it in ketchup before digging in. Sam ruffled his damp hair with a wry smile, leaving it standing up in wet spikes. It was one of the boy's quirks, not unlike Artemis's insistence of putting cheese on her PB&J's or John's fondness for adding crushed red pepper to just about everything. Seriously, the kid loved spicy food and neither of his parents had an idea where he'd gotten it. They'd taken to searching his pockets whenever they got home from a place like Taco Bell because he'd stuff every one of them with the spiciest sauce they had, and half the time he forgot to take them out afterwards. It had only taken one time of Gabriel putting a load of laundry through the wash only to find out later no less than fourteen packets of hot sauce had gone in with the clothes. He'd even roped the twins into it, smuggling the packets out through anything big enough to fit a packet.

Orion, for his part, didn't have anything against bread, he just didn't like it with burgers. It made things messy when you added this to his avid love of ketchup, but fortunately it had been surprisingly easy to teach him how to use a fork. Compared to her brothers Artemis had a very basic pallet.

Only once the kids were eating, and he was sure Gabriel was eating something besides ketchup covered potato salad, did Sam sit down next to Dean and dig in. He kept one eye on the picnic table where the kids were, something that had become an involuntary habit. The Alpha decided to put off saying anything about the triplet situation, if only so he could work out something that would actually be useful or helpful to say. At least they'd been able to deal with the twins, they'd just gotten to their target number faster. It wasn't exactly the same situation, in any regard. That said...if anyone could handle it, Sam was pretty sure Dean and Castiel could.

 **BREAK/BREAK\BREAK**

Castiel shifted his weight a little, leaning against the entryway to the living room. He wasn't sure if Dean knew he was there, though it wouldn't surprise him if he didn't. It was out of character, but his mate had been off for most of the day. Castiel didn't blame him, but...he was worried.

It was getting late, and Dean still hadn't come to bed. Almost one in the morning. It had been a while since this had happened. They had a policy, never go to bed angry. More than once they'd still been up at sunrise, but they'd eventually worked out whatever problems they might have had. This hadn't happened for years, though. They still fought, they were still human, but nothing major for the last few years. The last time they'd been up this late for something besides sex was just before Henry was born. Well, that wasn't exactly true, considering the more angry the fight the better chances there were of intense makeup sex, but that was beside the point.

The Omega worried his lip, leaning forward a little to try and see Dean's face. The only light was from the TV, the most recent of several infomercials, but he doubted Dean was watching it. He had that far away look in his eyes. He wasn't even drinking his beer anymore. Castiel had never had any illusions about Dean's fondness for alcohol, but the Alpha knew his limits, which were high. He'd also been more than willing to cut down on his intake when they'd started having kids. Ironically alcohol was the one thing they'd never argued about. That said, it was a sure sign something was wrong with his mate if Dean started drinking more than two a day. Five bottles sat empty next to him.

Deciding to just bite the bullet, Castiel shuffled forward, one arm around his stomach. Dean didn't turn as he came over, carefully sitting next to him. The Omega reached out, taking his free hand. He pulled it into his lap, lacing their fingers together as he studied his mate's face.

"Dean?"

"Yeah?"

"Are you alright?"

Finally, Dean dragged his eyes back to the present, turning to regard the Omega. His mouth twisted wryly. "Shouldn't I be asking you that?"

Castiel frowned. "I'm not the one drinking beer and watching infomercials when I should be sleeping."

The Alpha grimaced. "You should go to bed, Cas. You need to rest."

"Not unless you come with me."

Dean regarded him tiredly. "Why?"

"Because you're my mate," he said simply. "Something's not right. I'm worried."

"Cas," the Alpha began.

"No, Dean. I won't go until you tell me what's wrong." He was hoping Dean would give in, if only to get him to bed. The Omega knew they had to prioritize his health when he was pregnant, and his mate became highly over protective so it was usually more a matter of how much he'd let Dean do. They both knew that if they left it up to Alpha instincts Castiel wouldn't leave the house, so they compromised for obvious reasons.

Dean looked away, mouth tight. "Damn it, Cas. Can't you just do what I tell you for once?"

It was Castiel's turn to smile wryly. "You know I do, Dean, when it's appropriate. But you wouldn't have mated me if I was a doormat. This isn't about me right now, this is about you."

The Alpha fell silent. Castiel waited, propping his feet up next to Dean's on the coffee table, settling against his side and resting his head on his mate's shoulder. Dean would tell him, in due time.

After a while, though, when Dean still didn't say anything, the gears started turning. Castiel was very sure the root cause of all this was the news they'd gotten. What he wasn't sure about was what part had thrown him into emotional turmoil. Personally his biggest concern was the higher risk of complications that came with carrying three kids to full term and giving birth to them. Never mind the first year or so when he'd have to breastfeed three mini-humans at the same time. One had been exhausting, but three? It seemed daunting, yes, but it wasn't like they could say "excuse me, we just wanted one."

"Can we handle three?"

Castiel frowned. "What do you mean?"

"How the hell did we make triplets? There's no multiples in our family, yours either. We checked."

"It _is_ an anomaly," he admitted. "Maybe it happened to both of us because we're technically mated to each other's brother."

"I'm serious, Cas," Dean protested, twisting to face him.

Castiel lifted his head, meeting his mate's gaze. "So am I. You know as well as anyone how this process is carried out, Dean. At this point how we ended up with three is irrelevant."

"Fine, fine. But...where are we going to put them? Can we even afford three?"

Castiel turned that over. "We will afford them. I don't think the attic will be suitable, even renovated, but we can work with the basement."

"The basement? Seriously?"

"We don't even use it for storage, Dean. It's empty space except for a bunch of sports equipment. If nothing else it will be cheaper."

Dean raked a hand back through his hair, tipping his head back against the couch. "Have you run the numbers yet?"

At that Castiel hesitated. "Have you?"

"Yes."

Ah. Cause located. Castiel closed his eyes slowly. It was something people underestimated, how much trouble financial problems caused, especially in a marriage or mating. He knew that better than anyone else, and had ended up being something of a counselor half the time if he ended up with a client who had a mate and a financial hole neither had expected to find.

For their part, Castiel and Dean had split the responsibilities based on practicality, as they had everything else. As a retired CPA, the financial things had always been his area. Yes Dean made the paycheck, but everything went through Castiel, and the Alpha had always been more than happy with this arrangement. He hated math, and Castiel managed their budget better than he ever had prior to mating the Omega.

Castiel ran his thumb over the back of the Alpha's hand, trying to remember what their books had looked like the last time he'd checked. He didn't think it was good considering a budget meant for one kid would need to fit three, but they could make it work. He'd just have to tinker with things.

"Dean, there's a reason you leave our finances to me," he reminded him gently. "I'll go over everything in the morning. Maybe it's not as bad as you think."

"And if it is?"

"Technically I'm still certified, there's just a few continued education requirements I'll have to catch up on. Ion made it clear I was welcome if I ever wanted to come back."

"You shouldn't have to work," Dean protested. "We agreed, one of us would stay home with the kids."

"I can work from home," Castiel countered. "It's just a matter of what jobs I take. It's part of why I chose that career in the first place, Dean. So working from home would be an option. I might have to arrange to meet clients occasionally, but nothing we can't handle."

"I could add on hours, do more, pick up odd jobs."

"Dean-

"And it ain't just about me being the provider. It's about us being there for them and taking care of them. All of them. Food, clothes, school, sports, and whatever the hell else they'll need. What happens if one of them gets sick? If it's something like a cold they could all get it, and gods forbid it's something worse. The diapers alone that first year can break the bank. And college? It was bad enough for us but it just gets worse every year and you know it."

He looked like he might have kept going, but the Omega had heard enough.

Castiel, rather than try and get a word in over his mate, opted for a more direct approach. He let go of Dean's hand, bracing both hands on the Alpha's shoulders so he could sit up and straddle his mate's waist. This effectively brought Dean's protests to a stuttering halt as he stared up at Castiel in surprise.

The Omega sat down carefully, locking eyes with his mate. He knew very well that it was as much about the need to provide as it was the other very legitimate reasons. While he understood this, Castiel felt Dean had earned a little bit of leash in that regard. Until this particularly harsh curveball Dean had always been a good provider, one of the things even a modern Omega took into account when checking out a prospective mate. Dean was good at what he did, and he worked hard at it so they could maintain their current standard of living while also putting money away for the very reasons his mate had listed.

Resting their foreheads together, the Omega murmured, "Come to bed, Dean. I'll go back over everything tomorrow. Maybe it's not as bad as you think."

For a moment he thought Dean was still going to refuse, but then his mate tipped his face up to peck his lips gently. "Fine."

Satisfied, Castiel climbed off the Alpha, getting to his feet. Well, it was certainly a start. Now to see if he was right about it not being so bad.

 **BREAK/BREAK\BREAK**

Gabriel didn't hear Sam come up. He gave a start when his mate said "Hey", hurriedly stuffing the papers he'd been scribbling on back into the book, snapping it shut. Sam sighed, crossing the nursery to sit by his mate, putting his back to the wall.

"What's up?" Gabriel inquired, trying to sound casual.

"I was just wondering...look, can we talk?"

The Omega frowned slightly, worried now. "What about?"

"All this."

It didn't make Gabriel feel any better when his mate gestured to the nursery as a whole.

"What about it?"

"Is there something I should know about?"

"What're you getting at, big boy?"

The Alpha grimaced. "You've been different with this one. I'm just worried, that's all."

Gabriel looked down at the baby books scattered around him. He didn't really have a comment for that. What _could_ he say?

"Come on, talk to me," Sam coaxed.

The Omega made the mistake of meeting his mate's gaze. He should have known better. The puppy eyes were fully activated.

"I just...I feel like I should do more. Care more."

Now it was Sam who frowned. "What do you mean?"

"I like their names, but I didn't really bother with them. And their middle names don't count because they're only used when you're in trouble. I left it up to other people because I didn't care enough."

"So you're compensating by obsessing over this one?" Sam asked incredulously.

"Not obsessing," Gabriel protested. "Just taking more interest. I'm going to pick both their names. I'm going to put more together than their toy supply, I'm going to _do_ more."

"You already do a lot, you know."

"Not enough."

"Where is all this coming from?"

Gabriel hesitated, looking down again. Sam scooted a little closer, nudging him. "Gabriel?"

"I don't...I don't want to be like _her_ ," he said at last.

"Who?"

"Mom."

"Oh. You know you're not, right?"

"But she never cared," protested the Omega, staring up at his mate beseechingly. "She let dad pick out all our names, she never bothered to breast feed us or pump, she never did anything with us that she didn't have to. I can't be like her, Sam."

"You're not her, Gabriel," his mate protested, looking genuinely confused.

"You sure? Because the last I checked-

"The last _I_ checked you're a good parent," Sam cut him off. "You are not Naomi. Yeah okay, so you're not into certain things, big deal. That's just you being you. You love them, Gabriel, and they know it. You're a good parent and you're a good role model for them. Just because you didn't do every little thing doesn't make you an unfit parent."

The Omega looked away, worrying his lip. "Is that why I like to spoil them, let them have extra dessert? Am I compensating?"

Sam snorted softly. "You don't spoil them."

"I'm easier on them than you are."

"Yeah, but that just means we balance each other out."

"Is that a good thing? I mean we don't even punish them the same. I just chew them out and cut their sugar intake for a while. You ground them or make them do pushups. Yesterday you told John to run around the block twice for lying."

"I thought you were okay with that. He's eight, he can handle it."

"It started raining," Gabriel protested. "You made him keep going."

"He needs to learn he can't lie, Gabriel. We agreed on that, remember?"

"Yeah, but..." Gabriel closed his eyes, leaning his head back against the wall. "Fucking hormones."

Yes, they'd had a discussion about this matter already. They'd agreed lying was something they had to nip in the bud, which was why the Omega hadn't done more than grumble. He might have stepped in, especially the way he was feeling now, but they needed to present a unified front. John had only made the mistake of trying to turn them against each other once, just once. It was something they were hoping to maintain for all their kids.

The Omega opened his eyes as Sam scooted a little closer, so their legs were touching. "How long have you been feeling like this?"

"A while."

"Since Naomi came through?"

"Maybe. I mean I was already starting to wonder but...is it bad? That I want more to do with this one?"

"No, no of course not. I'd just rather you didn't do it out of guilt." The Alpha fell quiet for a moment, then asked, "Aside from their names and not being super enthusiastic about prepping, what makes you think you're not a good parent?"

"It doesn't get any better after they're born, Sam, remember? I'd rather give them cookies than try and get them a snack that's actually healthy, I set them in front of the TV rather than try and play with them."

Sam sighed. "You put them in front of the TV when nothing else works and you need them occupied so you can do whatever you need to do." He paused, then added, "What happened to the milk balancing out the cookies?"

"I just say that so you won't be on my ass about it," Gabriel admitted miserably. "Artemis would rather play with her brothers than me. John doesn't come to me for anything anymore and I had to hear from his teacher that he cheated on that spelling test. Even Orion would rather have you tuck him in than me."

"I think that's just because my hair's longer. I can't put him down until he's asleep because he's got this death grip on it."

Gabriel glanced at him. "You've never said anything."

"I didn't see the point. I wouldn't worry about John too much. He's just going through a phase, and you know it's probably just going to get worse when he hits his teens. And the Artemis thing is all in your head. Who's the first person she goes to when she wants to know something or when she finishes a finger painting?"

The Omega didn't respond. He knew the answer. Sam leaned over, wrapping one long arm around his shoulders and curling fingers around one of his hands.

"It's not like you to worry about stuff like this," the Alpha commented. "Since when do you care about what people think of you or whether they even like you?"

"These aren't just people, Sam," protested Gabriel. "These are my kids. I'm not asking to be their best friend or anything I just...

The Alpha had a point, and Gabriel could feel his mate's logic chipping away at the hormone-fuelled storm cloud that had been festering in the back of his head for weeks. Sam was right, it was rare he gave a crap what people thought of him. He'd pissed off his fair share of authority figures as a result, and injured the ego of many an Alpha. Any time they started getting high and mighty, convinced they were indispensable, he'd kicked them out the door just to prove them wrong. It had been one of many initial points in Sam's favor back when they were dating. Despite the less than respectable way they'd first met, Sam had not only been the most gentlemanly Alpha Gabriel had ever dated, Sam still did nice things, too. He hadn't stopped after they were mated and started having kids. Every Valentine's Day he'd take Gabriel out to his favorite restaurant, a date the always ended in a nice hotel with thick walls. He'd come home with his favorite chocolates if he knew Gabriel was having a rough day, sometimes he'd take the kids out for a day so he could have brief and much needed R&R time. Gabriel tried to return the favor of course, but it occurred to him he hadn't done anything in a while.

Abruptly Gabriel felt a surge of guilt, but this time the source was different. He turned to look up at Sam, a frown creasing his face. The Alpha still wore a worried frown, studying him.

"I...I'm sorry, Sam."

The frown deepened a little. "What for?"

"You've been awesome. You never forget a holiday or an anniversary, you help with the kids even after you've had a long day at work, you brought me freakin' flowers home the other day...what have I done? Snap at you every time I have a mood swing? Forget our anniversary the last two years in a row?"

Something warm rolled down his face. Gabriel swiped angrily at his cheek then stared at his fingers. He was crying? Seriously?

"I kicked you to the couch for breathing too loud and now I'm crying like some schoolgirl," he snapped angrily.

"Gabriel, Gabriel look at me," Sam urged, taking his face in his hand. "It's okay, alright? It's okay."

"How the hell is it okay?"

Sam coaxed Gabriel around, getting the Omega into his lap and tucking his head under his chin, wrapping both long arms around him and holding him until the tears finally stopped. Gabriel hated them, especially now, scrubbing at them angrily until Sam caught his wrists with his free hand and gently tugged them down.

Eventually, once the worst of it had settled, Sam began to speak, his voice low and gentle. "It's not forgetting if you're very pregnant or juggling two infants and you remember the day before, Gabriel. I do the things I do because I want to, because you're my mate and I love you, not because I expect stuff in return. You've been amazing too, you know. You're the one who calls it 'health crap' but you still make it for me to take into work for lunch every day, even those oatmeal flax cookies you say taste like cardboard. You iron all those monkey suits I have to wear for work, you put vegetables through a blender or smother them in cheese so they'll eat them, and you don't complain if I'm out of it because of a case or working at all hours. You take great care of the kids, you put up with me...I mean you're not perfect, no one is, but I love you. _We_ love you. Ow! What was that for?"

Gabriel fisted a hand in Sam's shirt, the one he'd just used to punch him. "For making me cry again you stupid Alpha!"

Sam chuckled, stroking the Omega's hair and holding onto him as Gabriel buried his face in his chest. This time, with his nose in his mate's scent, it was easier to get a grip. He felt stupid, breaking down like this, hormones or no hormones.

Eventually, once he felt in control of himself again, Gabriel mumbled, "I'm too old for this."

The Alpha kept running his fingers through the Omega's hair, heaving a sigh. "You're not old, Gabriel. Just because you have kids doesn't mean you stop needing things like this yourself."

"Why the hell are you so levelheaded?"

"One of us has to be."

"What does that make me?"

"The guy who keeps the stick out of my ass."

Gabriel cracked a smile at that.

He shifted, watching as Sam freed one arm to pick up the baby name book he'd been looking at when the Alpha came in. Passing it to the Omega he asked, "Have you narrowed it down?"

"Some. I wasn't aware there were so many good ones."

"Show me?"

Gabriel started to take the book, but hesitated. "What about the kids? Have they been alone too long?"

"They're on a Shrek binge. We have time. So what names are you looking at?"

 **BREAK/BREAK\BREAK**

"What's the damage?"

Castiel looked up, blinking blearily. Dean was leaning against the door to their home office, beer bottle dangling from one hand. It occurred to him that the lamps had been turned on behind the Alpha, and when he turned to look back at the windows he finally noticed the sun had set.

"How long have I been here?" he asked, yawning and stretching his arms over his head.

"Almost four hours."

Abruptly he lurched to his feet, eyes wide. "I need to get the kids into bed. Have they been bathed yet?"

"They've gotten their baths, their teeth brushed, all that. Figured you'd wanna tell 'em good night."

Castiel slowly sank back into his chair, panic eased. "Oh. Thank you, Dean."

"Don't thank me, just tell me what you've been working on," the Alpha told him, coming around to stand behind the desk.

The Omega rubbed his eyes tiredly, turning back to the screen. "Well, technically we can scrape by as we are. But there is very little room for error or margin if something happened. We would also have to put off adding to any college funds for twelve years or so."

He glanced up at Dean, who's mouth had gone tight. "Isn't that what we'd thought was going to happen?"

"Yes. But I emailed Ion this morning. He was thrilled to hear I was considering going back to work. I can start back part time from home, and I should be able to arrange it so I wouldn't have to actually meet anyone, just use conference calls. It would be enough so we wouldn't be in trouble if an unexpected expense came up. We wouldn't be able to put as much away, but we wouldn't be in dire straits."

He didn't bother adding that the vacation budget would take a hit. They were both of the opinion one should avoid bringing very young children to restaurants, never mind on a vacation where not only would the child not remember or enjoy it, but it would also make their lives a lot harder. Even before, they hadn't really gone anywhere since Mary was born. They'd tried taking a road trip out to visit Chuck in Oregon once when she was two. It hadn't been overly pleasant. The Disney trip when she was four had gone much better, but after that Castiel had gotten pregnant with Henry. Now it seemed like it wouldn't even be an issue. Yes they could work out the occasional Six Flags trip or something like it, but being stuck in the car with five young children for hours on end wasn't exactly Castiel's idea of a vacation. He was sure college funds would be both a very believable and very legitimist excuse.

Dean pulled over a second chair, sitting down next to the Omega. "So there's not another option?"

Castiel switched spreadsheets. He'd compiled several as he'd sifted through everything and run the numbers. "It's the best option, I think. I could go back full time, but I'd rather wait until they're all in school first. I still wouldn't be working as much as before, but I'll still be making a steady income. We shouldn't have to trade in my car unless it getting totaled is one of those unforeseen expenses. That tubal ligation won't help the short term budget but I'm sure we can both agree it's worth having in the long term. We can recycle Mary and Henry's clothes and toys so we won't have to buy much more, unless they're all one gender."

He started to explain the entirety of his plan, but stopped when he noticed the Alpha's eyes starting to glaze over.

"Perhaps we should get the kids in bed."

Dean shook his head. "No, I'm listening. This is good stuff, great. I can't believe you did all this in four hours."

Castiel cracked a tired smile. "I used to do this for a living, Dean. Tomorrow's a weekday, all of you need to get to bed. You didn't get much sleep last night."

"Neither did you," the Alpha countered.

"I'm used to it."

"You shouldn't be."

Castiel turned back to the computer, saving things off so he could shut it down for the night. "Go on, I'll be upstairs in a minute."

The chair creaked behind him as Dean stood, but as he left Castiel called, "Dean?"

He stopped and turned, raising his eyebrows in question.

"There's still plenty of room left in the budget for pie."

It got a small smile out of the Alpha. Not much of one, but a smile nonetheless. "Good to know."

He started to leave again, but something occurred to Castiel. "Oh, and Dean?"

"Yeah?"

"When should we tell them?"

"Who?"

"Mary and Henry."

"Oh. When they notice you're bigger than last time or start to realize we're getting three of everything. Whichever happens first."

Castiel nodded. That would work. Why add extra headaches when they had plenty already?

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